THE SCHEDULE

8:00 - 9:00 am - Trade Show Registration

8:00 - 11:00 am - VCH Exam

9:00 - 10:30 am - Landscaping and the Golden Era.   Join us as we welcome Jason Rathe, founder and majority owner of Field Outdoor Spaces, Minneapolis, MN (www.fieldoutdoorspaces.com).  In 2017 Jason realized that exactly zero of their seventeen crew leads and crew members thought they would still be at the company in five-years. Doing a quick survey of their employees, their responses were consistent and clear (1) everyone wanted full-year employment (2) they didn't think a person could stay healthy landscaping for their whole career and (3) they wanted to be able to buy a house.

Over the last nine years Field has confronted each of these issues. They created a winter remodeling division called Uplift by Field, invested in an extensive body-health program and raised salaries. In 2026, Field will not hire a single person and almost all of their employees plan on staying for the foreseeable future. In addition, Jason sold shares of the company to 6 individuals and kicked-off a long-term employee ownership transition.

Jason is excited for the opportunity to talk about the details of this journey as well as their internal systems of Open Book Management, their scorecard and scoreboard system and their experience implementing EOS.  Jason wholeheartedly believes the landscaping career is in a golden era, offering exciting opportunities to create jobs that are empowering, safe, healthy and provide wages on which employees can build a fulfilled life.

10:30 - 11:00 am - Visit with Vendors

11:00 am - Noon:  VNLA Special Membership Meeting.

Noon - 1:00 pm - Lunch

1:00 - 2:00 pm - Annual Summer Auction of plants, tools, baked goods, and other sundries.  PLEASE BRING ALONG A DONATION and your wallets! Auction proceeds go toward the VNLA’s program offerings.

2:00 - 2:30 pm - Visit with Vendors

CONCURRENT TOURS

2:30 - 4:00 pm

Innovative Strategies to Restore Degraded Riparian Forested Buffers - On-Site Tour w/ Jess Rubin, Mycoevolve (www.mycoevolve.net).  This is a walking tour which begins w/ a 15 minute walk to the site of this long-term project at Shelburne Farms. The tour, led by Jess Rubin, is a socio-ecological reconciliation project aimed to mitigate phosphorus pollution, increase pollinator habitat, facilitate Abenaki land access, and foster local ecoliteracy.  Learn about the seven year pilot and three year next-level project investigating mycorrhizal fungi's role in expediting plant's phosphorus uptake and restored polyculture habitat's biodversity. We will discuss site history, methodology, data findings, socio-ecological reconciliation principles, community collaborations, and bio-regional context within the larger restoration, landscaping, and regenerative agriculture movements.

2:30 - 3:30 pm 

Pollinator-Friendly Landscapes: Turning Good Plant Choices into Better Outcomes w/ Emily May, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation (www.xerces.org).  More home gardeners around Vermont are seeking plants that support bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects than ever. How can nurseries and landscape professionals meet the moment by providing valuable habitat plants while minimizing the risks of pesticides to pollinators? This talk will highlight high-value pollinator plants for Vermont, share recent research on pesticides in nursery plants, and explore how pesticide use in managed landscapes can shape the value of pollinator-attractive plantings. Emily will cover practical strategies to improve outcomes for pollinators at every step, from nursery production through landscape design and maintenance.

 

3:45 - 4:45 pm - Presentation details coming soon.

 

SPEAKER PROFILES

Jason Rathe is the founder and majority owner of Field Outdoor Spaces, a residential design-build landscape company in Minneapolis, MN. Jason obtained his BA in English and Kinesiology and a Master's in Horticulture from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. He lives in St. Louis Park, MN with his wife and three kids and enjoys mountain biking, gravel biking and art.

 

 

 

 

Jess Rubin is a restoration ecologist, and educator. She facilitates ecological resilience service Mycoevolve offering earthworks, education, and research throughout unceded Abenaki Territory. She is a Myco-Phytoremediation Research Technician in UVM’s Agriculture Landscape and Environment Department while serving in Vermont's Fungal Scientific Species Advisory  Group. Learn more: mycoevolve.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emily May is a pollinator conservation biologist with the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, where she works to build habitat for pollinators and other beneficial insects and reduce risks from pesticide use. She received a master's degree in entomology from Michigan State, where she studied wild bee pollinators and habitat restoration on blueberry farms. She works with land managers and communities across the region to support pollinators through practical, science-based approaches.